2/22 | Davidson | 9:00PM (ESPN2)

[DC_Rams]

2012-2013 8-21
2013-2014 14-18 (with EC)
2014-2015 23-10
2015-2016 17-15

Give the guy a year to cut his teeth and get a full roster in here. That should be where Cox shows us what he is made of. I’m not ready to write a rookie HC off or any of these kids, I’m just not.

[DC_Rams]

Well, I’m still a glass half full guy. Cox isn’t going anywhere, so crying about it is pointless. I think our guys seeing some 3s go down may help the confidence a bit. We were never going to beat Davidson with the slump we were in. The kids battled, Tyrese showed some life in the second half. Jermaine has to be able to knock down those 3-7 foot shots. We were in positions to score, but we MISSED wide open shots on too many occasions. As disjointed as the offense looked, it was working. FT % was better, but turnovers still an issue. I’m still optimistic about next season, Hammond and Mading can shoot, and Walker is a grown man. Looking forward to the rotation growing.

Go Rhody! Keep fighting, im going to keep supporting.

I’m ignoring all the negative bullshit, (literally blocked) because it’s pointless.

Sorry DC Ram, Glass was only one third full- Why are you so convinced that they will waste another season with cox? Do the math, it easily could make financial sense to pay him off and fill the place up! I hope you are right about Hammond, and he is a late bloomer, but still not recruited by major bb schools that we know of, Mading is a hope, way to skinny to play and again what schools were recruiting him? This is not a good recruiting class.

I guarantee you firing a HC with a a limited roster who is primed to reload it, would be cataclysmic. You would lose 3/4 of this roster, likely all of the recruits and hire someone to come and rebuild from ground zero.

A level headed AD, which Thorr is, knows better.

[ElmCityRhody]

Notbif you hire RICK PITINO

[SmartyBarrett]

URI was dead last (by well over a full percentage point) in A-10 three point defense coming into this one. I don't even wanna know what it'll look like tomorrow.

[ramster]

The worst 3 point shooter in D1 Basketball took the most 3 point attempts of any player on both teams tonight - why?

Dowtin and Martin both went 2-4 on threes. Why don’t they get the attempts that the worst 3 point shooter in the nation takes?

Cyril Langevine is a warrior, a beast. Making double-double games routine

Why does Fatts get only 2 assists as PG?

[section(105)]

......the offense scheme is awful, painful to watch and certainly not anything that should be like this for a D1 program.....if we don’t get the offensive system identified to match these players talents, teach it early and often, commit to it early and demand that players execute it, we will struggle next year......

[Blue Man]

2012-2013 8-21
2013-2014 14-18 (with EC)
2014-2015 23-10
2015-2016 17-15

Give the guy a year to cut his teeth and get a full roster in here. That should be where Cox shows us what he is made of. I’m not ready to write a rookie HC off or any of these kids, I’m just not.

Listen I’m full in on a 2nd year for so many obvious factors - but stop with this “full roster”- these are all Dave’s kids.

He’s been here for every single one of the kids on this roster and also recruited this top 50 class.

I have one question: why is Jeff Dowtin not our PG anymore?

Keep the rosters the same - does Dan Hurley ever move Jeff off the ball? Does any coach ever move Jeff off the ball?

You can literally boil this teams struggles down to not having a PG - except it’s by choice and not because of roster limitations.

Just having a steady PG, having Jeff as your PG, should prevent any “rebuild” from ever happening.

Ignore who’s in the #1 chair, and if Jeff is your full time PH you have 4-6 more wins and this season isn’t a disaster. Period.

[ElmCityRhody]

I see nothing to build upon in the freshmen other than TM

Cox hasn’t improved anyone and offense is stagnant

I’ll take a sure thing coach and HOF coach any day of the week over Cox

it’s worth a phone call

THINK BIG DO WE

[RF1]

Expected to be disappointed and Cox and crew delivered. My last two Ryan Center visits have seen the opponent shoot over 60 percent from the field. Third straight home game that I attended and left with over 3 minutes left on the clock.

Lots of empty seats in the arena, even in the center court 100 and 200 sections. Not a big student crowd and many that went left at the half. No energy in the building. Fans are beat down from all the losses with many of them having been blowouts. 2- 4 in league play at home does not help.

Did get to see a fan tossed by a ref. Would assume the fan said something.

[TruePoint]

This board is a dumpster fire.

[RF1]

This board is a dumpster fire.

So is the team right now.

[RF1]

What was attendance? It didn't look very good.

5,543. Below the season average of 5,750 heading into this game. Will be interesting to see how low the number is for GW this Tuesday night and Umass on the final Saturday.

[PeterRamTime]

The effort was definitely better, but damn....

[RamStock]

I see nothing to build upon in the freshmen other than TM

Cox hasn’t improved anyone and offense is stagnant

I’ll take a sure thing coach and HOF coach any day of the week over Cox

it’s worth a phone call

THINK BIG DO WE

I agree that there is nothing to build on in terms of the freshman other than Martin. Our two best players will be gone in Dowtin and Langevine after next year. This is a team with very little talent. Let’s be honest Walker barely played at Georgetown and we are waiting for him to come and save us. He wasn’t even close to Harris in the rankings and we see how that is going. I like Hammonds, but in no way believe in Mading. He is skinny and in no way ready for this level which is why programs weren’t interested in him. They will have no shooting again next year. We are dead last in the country in three point shooting(going into last night) and how much are we going to improve. How much is Cox really going to improve with getting plays to get this team easy baskets like Davidson can do. I think the assistants with Sutton and Carroll are just non existent and bring nothing for us.

[Running Ram]

Second game in a row Cyril had 6 TOs...

it negates 6 rebounds and is one of the reasons our offense has no fluidity it needs to be addressed by coaches. I get that he's a beast and I'm not one to get down on players, so I put this on coaches to recognize it and come up with a creative way to get Cyril to adjust. Also I know I've said this before as well but imo coaches need to help Fatts develop his mid range game, badly.

[JimSidd]

It is so painful to watch this team on offense: still too much standing around for long periods. Also, at this stage of the season, we shouldn’t see players directing other players to certain spots on the floor. And that weave! I mentioned after the Fordham game that this is a head scratcher. It’s at least 30 feet from the basket and serves no purpose. All it does is take time off the shot clock, which leads to too much late clock offense. Some of those three pointers are taken out of necessity because the shot clock is running down.
The lack of outside shooting is definitely hurting Cyril’s game. We all know he doesn’t have the best hands, but he was double teamed almost every time he got the ball. Why wouldn’t every team do that?

[section(105)]

.....we need something different on offense other than; weave far from the basket that only takes time off the shot clock, Jeff pointing to the spot he wants a screen, Fatts driving into the trees for an off balance heave, players standing, off balance contested three attempts late in clock, and on first and ten something other than Cyril up the middle for a few yards......

[Urifan91]

I too am confused by the weave... this group often starts it too far out. Also it is supposed to get you an open 3, or possibly a drive to the hoop. It worked last year for good players like JT and EC but this group does not have such players.

[DC_Rams]

2012-2013 8-21
2013-2014 14-18 (with EC)
2014-2015 23-10
2015-2016 17-15

Give the guy a year to cut his teeth and get a full roster in here. That should be where Cox shows us what he is made of. I’m not ready to write a rookie HC off or any of these kids, I’m just not.

Listen I’m full in on a 2nd year for so many obvious factors - but stop with this “full roster”- these are all Dave’s kids.

He’s been here for every single one of the kids on this roster and also recruited this top 50 class.

I have one question: why is Jeff Dowtin not our PG anymore?

Keep the rosters the same - does Dan Hurley ever move Jeff off the ball? Does any coach ever move Jeff off the ball?

You can literally boil this teams struggles down to not having a PG - except it’s by choice and not because of roster limitations.

Just having a steady PG, having Jeff as your PG, should prevent any “rebuild” from ever happening.

Ignore who’s in the #1 chair, and if Jeff is your full time PH you have 4-6 more wins and this season isn’t a disaster. Period.

These being Dave’s guys doesn’t change the fact that we lost 6 guys. That’s a fact. We have a limited rotation of 7 guys. 6 of whom actually contribute. We add 4 more to the roster, that increases our depth, new look, new schemes and allows opportunity for growth of our freshman and our coach. If Cox couldn’t coach he wouldn’t have been such a catalyst for DH during his tenure as lead scout. I’m not sure how much help he gets from his assistants, but I’d definitely have to re-evaluate a lot heading into the off-season. The part that concerns me most about this fickle and fair weather fan base, is that if he does
Improve next year, most of you will act completely oblivious, as if this behavior exemplified, never took place. It’s okay to be upset, but the bullshit being spewed here is downright embarrassing at times.

[DC_Rams]

I too am confused by the weave... this group often starts it too far out. Also it is supposed to get you an open 3, or possibly a drive to the hoop. It worked last year for good players like JT and EC but this group does not have such players.

You guys see what you want to see. It created open looks for JH, which he missed, and FT opportunities for CL last night. It wasn’t beautiful, but it worked, it confused the zone, which is its purpose.

[ElmCityRhody]

The weave was a joke

Yes I saw a few looks we got out of it but come on

It looked foolish and a waste of time and doesn’t solve the overall lack of offensive plays

Do you see the way Davidson is always moving and cutting WITHOUT THE BALL

give me that any day of the week than a you tube video of the weave 25 feet away from the hoop

[Seawrightspostgame]

I don’t think the weave worked last year. The weave is no good.

They do struggle with working the shot clock on both ends.

[kmillr16]

I thought we played pretty well given what we’ve seen recently. If we could have limited our turnovers it could have easily been a one or two possession game at the end even with how well Davidson shot the ball.

At least we got out talented and not out hustled!!

[RhowdyRam02]

On another note - does Dave Cox hate Jeff Dowtin or just think he’s better as a 2 guard?

You legit have a guy who could be a top 10 PG on this team next year and you refuse to let him play the point.

That is the single handed biggest on court problem this year. You are trying to force your stud PG to be a 2 guard and hurting the team in the process.

He even had him off the ball when Fatts was sitting and Siberia was handling the point...who is in the game to do one thing only - spot up to shoot.

Siberia? Awesome autocorrect. Yes, that's how cold our shooters are

[ramster]

I too am confused by the weave... this group often starts it too far out. Also it is supposed to get you an open 3, or possibly a drive to the hoop. It worked last year for good players like JT and EC but this group does not have such players.

You guys see what you want to see. It created open looks for JH, which he missed, and FT opportunities for CL last night. It wasn’t beautiful, but it worked, it confused the zone, which is its purpose.

DCRams,
I respect your observations and opinions. But couldn’t it be said that you and some others are also “seeing what you want to see”?

A High point last night was when Dowtin and Martin hit the back to back 3 pointers. Then we have a chance to cut the lead further with Time running down, Fatts drives down a crowded lane, gets stripped and a breakaway layup ends it. Why drive into the lane at that point? A good PG would say “we just got back into this with our two best 3 point shooters hitting back to back 3’s. It’s me my job to set Jeff and Tyrese up again and have this crowd go berserk.” But not the case. Drive a crowded lane with almost an expected result
That’s on the PG and that’s on the Coaching Staff. We were on a roll and then we were not, just like that.

I apppreciate your defending this season, call it rebuilding or whatever anyone wants to call it, but this is now losses in 7 of 8 games, 5 lossses in a row. 4 games left.
I admire your optimism, really do.

[rambone 78]

Get someone in here who can run a half court offense. Between Sutton, Carroll, and Cox they don't have a clue.

And whatever they are trying to teach isn't getting thru to the players on the court...they don't even know half the time where they're supposed to be, or do.

26 games into the season this shouldn't be happening...freshmen or not.

It's a long offseason...think they'll get better? How can anyone be confident?

If Fatts runs the point more than a few minutes a game next season, we will suck again. Mark it down.

He is a role player.....and that's it. We REALLY need a PG recruit, and a good one.

[RhowdyRam02]

I’ll just say this. We aren’t beating any team that shoots 70% from 3pt and 62% from the field. I don’t know many teams that could/would.

Do you think it has anything to do with our defense???? This team does not help, get past the first Rhody defender and we are late, late , late

few attempts, if any , of taking charges and few if any hard fouls, b
And, of course, one time that I remember that JH got the ball in the post

McKillop is a future HOF’er against a first year guy. He’s been running the same efficient offense for years. He has five shooters. At some point you overplay one guy and it leaves another space to knock one down. They just happen to, more often than not, knock em down. For Pete’s sake they hit a shot from 3 qtr court, they were ON tonight. And we only lost by 9, I’ll take it. This year was always gonna be ugly. If we couldn’t make the tourney with EC and Jared as Freshman, why they hell did anyone think we could do it now...?

Coack K himself couldn't have brought that team to the tournament, seeing as EC and Jared weren't in the same freshmen class. This is where I'd post something snarky about how you would know that if you were actually a URI fan instead of a Cox hanger-on, but really anyone with any atom of URI knowledge should know that

[RIFan]

It seemed like almost every possession ended with a bad shot as the shot clock wound down...it was driving Steve and Don crazy! They shot the 3 overall OK today, but the overall FG pct is hard to believe. We are the bad news bears of college basketball right now.

[RhowdyRam02]

Second game in a row Cyril had 6 TOs...

it negates 6 rebounds and is one of the reasons our offense has no fluidity it needs to be addressed by coaches. I get that he's a beast and I'm not one to get down on players, so I put this on coaches to recognize it and come up with a creative way to get Cyril to adjust. Also I know I've said this before as well but imo coaches need to help Fatts develop his mid range game, badly.

Well that would require having an actual point guard play point guard so Cyril is getting the ball in advantageous situations and for other guys on the team to hit shots so Cyril isn't getting double and triple teamed. Yeah, Martin was good offensively in garbage time but it was too little from a team standpoint (need more than two guys) and too late from a scoreboard standpoint

[RIFan]

Part of the reason Cyril may be the first Ram to average a double double in 30 years is we miss so much, so he has more opportunity than most.

[McRam]

I’ll just say this. We aren’t beating any team that shoots 70% from 3pt and 62% from the field. I don’t know many teams that could/would.

Do you think it has anything to do with our defense???? This team does not help, get past the first Rhody defender and we are late, late , late

few attempts, if any , of taking charges and few if any hard fouls, b
And, of course, one time that I remember that JH got the ball in the post

McKillop is a future HOF’er against a first year guy. He’s been running the same efficient offense for years. He has five shooters. At some point you overplay one guy and it leaves another space to knock one down. They just happen to, more often than not, knock em down. For Pete’s sake they hit a shot from 3 qtr court, they were ON tonight. And we only lost by 9, I’ll take it. This year was always gonna be ugly. If we couldn’t make the tourney with EC and Jared as Freshman, why they hell did anyone think we could do it now...?

Sorry DC We were watching a different game= do you think we looked like a well coached team?

[TheGhostOfDH]

2012-2013 8-21
2013-2014 14-18 (with EC)
2014-2015 23-10
2015-2016 17-15

Give the guy a year to cut his teeth and get a full roster in here. That should be where Cox shows us what he is made of. I’m not ready to write a rookie HC off or any of these kids, I’m just not.

Listen I’m full in on a 2nd year for so many obvious factors - but stop with this “full roster”- these are all Dave’s kids.

He’s been here for every single one of the kids on this roster and also recruited this top 50 class.

I have one question: why is Jeff Dowtin not our PG anymore?

Keep the rosters the same - does Dan Hurley ever move Jeff off the ball? Does any coach ever move Jeff off the ball?

You can literally boil this teams struggles down to not having a PG - except it’s by choice and not because of roster limitations.

Just having a steady PG, having Jeff as your PG, should prevent any “rebuild” from ever happening.

Ignore who’s in the #1 chair, and if Jeff is your full time PH you have 4-6 more wins and this season isn’t a disaster. Period.

These being Dave’s guys doesn’t change the fact that we lost 6 guys. That’s a fact. We have a limited rotation of 7 guys. 6 of whom actually contribute. We add 4 more to the roster, that increases our depth, new look, new schemes and allows opportunity for growth of our freshman and our coach. If Cox couldn’t coach he wouldn’t have been such a catalyst for DH during his tenure as lead scout. I’m not sure how much help he gets from his assistants, but I’d definitely have to re-evaluate a lot heading into the off-season. The part that concerns me most about this fickle and fair weather fan base, is that if he does
Improve next year, most of you will act completely oblivious, as if this behavior exemplified, never took place. It’s okay to be upset, but the bullshit being spewed here is downright embarrassing at times.

Well said. I’m with you!

[DC_Rams]

Do you think it has anything to do with our defense???? This team does not help, get past the first Rhody defender and we are late, late , late

few attempts, if any , of taking charges and few if any hard fouls, b
And, of course, one time that I remember that JH got the ball in the post

McKillop is a future HOF’er against a first year guy. He’s been running the same efficient offense for years. He has five shooters. At some point you overplay one guy and it leaves another space to knock one down. They just happen to, more often than not, knock em down. For Pete’s sake they hit a shot from 3 qtr court, they were ON tonight. And we only lost by 9, I’ll take it. This year was always gonna be ugly. If we couldn’t make the tourney with EC and Jared as Freshman, why they hell did anyone think we could do it now...?

Sorry DC We were watching a different game= do you think we looked like a well coached team?

If we make shots this isn’t even a discussion!!! We missed OPEN LOOKS! We shot 35%.

[SmartyBarrett]

A High point last night was when Dowtin and Martin hit the back to back 3 pointers. Then we have a chance to cut the lead further with Time running down, Fatts drives down a crowded lane, gets stripped and a breakaway layup ends it. Why drive into the lane at that point? A good PG would say “we just got back into this with our two best 3 point shooters hitting back to back 3’s. It’s me my job to set Jeff and Tyrese up again and have this crowd go berserk.” But not the case. Drive a crowded lane with almost an expected result

This isn’t quite true. The offensive play immediately following those two made threes was Jeff running point, dribbling around for a bit and jacking up a long contested two.

[RIFan]

Everyone keeps saying the season looks different if we shot even an average percentage this year...and that is true. But we don't. So who or what is to blame? Something and or someone has to be accountable for this so called display of basketball. If we can't figure out the problem, how do we fix it?

[DC_Rams]

I too am confused by the weave... this group often starts it too far out. Also it is supposed to get you an open 3, or possibly a drive to the hoop. It worked last year for good players like JT and EC but this group does not have such players.

You guys see what you want to see. It created open looks for JH, which he missed, and FT opportunities for CL last night. It wasn’t beautiful, but it worked, it confused the zone, which is its purpose.

DCRams,
I respect your observations and opinions. But couldn’t it be said that you and some others are also “seeing what you want to see”?

A High point last night was when Dowtin and Martin hit the back to back 3 pointers. Then we have a chance to cut the lead further with Time running down, Fatts drives down a crowded lane, gets stripped and a breakaway layup ends it. Why drive into the lane at that point? A good PG would say “we just got back into this with our two best 3 point shooters hitting back to back 3’s. It’s me my job to set Jeff and Tyrese up again and have this crowd go berserk.” But not the case. Drive a crowded lane with almost an expected result
That’s on the PG and that’s on the Coaching Staff. We were on a roll and then we were not, just like that.

I apppreciate your defending this season, call it rebuilding or whatever anyone wants to call it, but this is now losses in 7 of 8 games, 5 lossses in a row. 4 games left.
I admire your optimism, really do.

I’m optimistic because DH was 8-21 and 14-18 in his first two years. Took him until the 5th to get us to the tourney. Again, I’m a DH fan, just think we need to have the same patience. Allow the staff some off-season reflection. I remain hopeful brother.

[RhodyFanNotAlum]

There was, once again, plenty to be bothered by in this game. But one thing stands out as the best evidence that this coach is either clueless or not reaching the team.

Just a few games ago Fatts had the ball with the shot clock off at the end of the first half, attempted a 3 pointer with too much time left on the game clock, missed and allowed his opponent to score as time expired.

He had the ball in the same situation last night. And ... how does he take that shot with ANYTHING MORE THAN ONE SECOND ON THE CLOCK? I know what you're going to say -- but this time he made the 3, and Davidson's halfcourt heave as time expired was improbable -- but those arguments are both irrelevant.

The mere fact that he took that shot (make or miss) with enough time for Davidson to inbound it, dribble twice and even attempt that longshot heave tells me he is learning nothing from his earlier mistakes. That speaks to a low basketball IQ, awful coaching, or both.

[UCH21377]

I thought they looked a little better last night than in the previous few games. The weave actually produced a few decent looks; I think he's just trying to get the kids to move on offense. Not recommending it as a permanent solution that's for sure, but a lot of teams use it from time to time. I'm done criticizing this year, I think. Nothing to be gained by it. But I have to say I am not optimistic about next year. We'll see how it goes.

[Billyboy78]

Part of the reason Cyril may be the first Ram to average a double double in 30 years is we miss so much, so he has more opportunity than most.

Which is exactly why we had 13 offensive rebounds and Davidson had 1. Looks great independently on a stat sheet until you see other stats......like FG%.

[RIFan]

Are you kidding...5 years. this program is coming off back to back second round NCAA tourneys! Dan came here when we hadn't been to the tourney in 20 years! Sure he was given time to fix it...Cox does not have nearly the same situation and should not be given the same timeframe to perform. If we are not in the NCAA next year, the Cox experiment is a failure.

[RIFan]

Part of the reason Cyril may be the first Ram to average a double double in 30 years is we miss so much, so he has more opportunity than most.

Which is exactly why we had 13 offensive rebounds and Davidson had 1. Looks great independently on a stat sheet until you see other stats......like FG%.

exactly.

[section(105)]

I thought they looked a little better last night than in the previous few games. The weave actually produced a few decent looks; I think he's just trying to get the kids to move on offense. Not recommending it as a permanent solution that's for sure, but a lot of teams use it from time to time. I'm done criticizing this year, I think. Nothing to be gained by it. But I have to say I am not optimistic about next year. We'll see how it goes.

.......yeah the end of this post is where I am going to try to settle into......the staff reflection on year should include an examination/evaluation of all offense and defense schemes, teaching and coaching methods......I guess we will shoot lights out in a game or two to close the season, but the body of work will not significantly improve with that......wonder what individual and team goals were set by the head coach that can be measured in the reflection.....

[rambone 78]

Well, if we had our best PG actually at the point we could mask our shooting deficiencies somewhat by getting guys in position for better shots.

When that happened earlier in the season we actually won some games.

We do remember that, don't we? It's been a while, my memory's fading a bit.....

[DC_Rams]

Are you kidding...5 years. this program is coming off back to back second round NCAA tourneys! Dan came here when we hadn't been to the tourney in 20 years! Sure he was given time to fix it...Cox does not have nearly the same situation and should not be given the same timeframe to perform. If we are not in the NCAA next year, the Cox experiment is a failure.

Another dumb statement.

[RIFan]

Are you kidding...5 years. this program is coming off back to back second round NCAA tourneys! Dan came here when we hadn't been to the tourney in 20 years! Sure he was given time to fix it...Cox does not have nearly the same situation and should not be given the same timeframe to perform. If we are not in the NCAA next year, the Cox experiment is a failure.

Another dumb statement.

Really? As dumb as saying 5 years is reasonable...What is an acceptable outcome for next season if not the NCAA? Now don't forget, next years team was supposed to be one of the best in URI history.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Well the game was lame, but had a great time seeing many friends and meeting new ones. Met Luke and his wife which was great.Had some beers with 208 so all in all I had fun even though we lost.

Get ready to update that tag line.

Wonder when it’ll be our super bowl?

They all are now...we're just handling them the same way the Buffalo Bills did...

[rambone 78]

A step back this season was expected....several steps back was not.

I doubt next season we will recover to where we were Dan's last season here. Probably not even close.

We are doomed to again wandering in basketball purgatory for several more seasons...and it will only get longer the longer this staff remains imo.

Yeah I know DC you say wait and see....and we will we have no choice.

[Billyboy78]

Here's what happens with the weave in most cases. All of the perimeter players touch the ball...great. But more often than not, once the weave is done, the players go back to their positions and become statues and the offense is initiated with around 18 seconds on the shot clock instead of around 25 seconds. I don't get it. It wastes time for an offense that already has a tough time getting good looks.

[rambone 78]

We have a team that should thrive in an uptempo offense. Yeah we have limitations with depth trying to do that right now....but damn it, at least TRY it.....

It has to happen next season...or the same type of offense we're seeing now, will yield the same shitty results.

[theblueram]

Comparing DH first two seasons to DC is just weak. DH had bodies on the court. DC has highly recruited players. And DH had EC and Hass his first recruiting class and Jarvis and JT his second. So who is coming in next year and the year after to give promise 3 years down the road?